Orange-Glazed Pound Cake

my brothers (Rocky and Mark) and me
Christmas, 1963

"...Come back!..." (Hosea 14:1)

Because as kids we drank ten to fourteen gallons of milk per week, to save money, my mother mixed Carnation dry milk with Pet homogenized milk that the Pet milkman delivered to our doorstep weekly. Every Christmas, the milkman and the paper-lady, who delivered the early morning edition of the Birmingham News, received one of Mama's delicious, orange-glazed pound cakes. She'd baked a third cake for Christmas dinner at our grandparents house on Forest Avenue. 

And the point of this story is? We had a good mama, and America sure was different back then.

In Hosea's last words to Israel, the Old Testament Prophet called the people to return to God:

O Israel, come back! Return to your God!

You're down but you're not out.

Prepare your confession

and come back to God.

Pray to Him, "Take away our sin,

accept our confession."

(Hosea 14:1-2 The Message)

O United States of America, come back! Return to your God! You're down but you're not out. Prepare your confession and come back to God! Perhaps God will heal our waywardness and give us a fresh start.